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Slowly but surely, Sri Lanka cricket is buying into the Jayasuriya way

Published

2 years ago

2024/11/21

Priyan

picture [Cricinfo]

For Sri Lanka and new head coach Sanath Jayasuriya, the last few months have certainly been winning ones, with the few blips – a 3-0 T20I series reverse against India, and losing the first two Tests in England – swiftly forgotten thanks to the morale-boosting wins and performances that followed.

But observers of Sri Lankan cricket over recent years will know better than to get carried away. After the twin peaks of 2014’s T20 World Cup win and overseas Test triumph in England, there was always likely to be a comedown and rebuild after the retirement of the stalwarts that drove those victories.

But the false dawns since then have been plenty, from an unexpectedly promising 2021 T20 World Cup campaign, to an even more unexpected 2022 Asia Cup final win, and then a run to the final of the 2023 Asia Cup which itself was preceded by an unbeaten 2023 ODI World Cup qualifying campaign. Even this year’s T20 World Cup build up had seen resounding series wins against Zimbabwe, Afghanistan and Bangladesh. All the hope that sprung from those victories, however, was just as quickly snuffed out by abject showings in major tournaments and finals.

So will this time be any different? For Jayasuriya and his team (which he has mentioned at any opportunity when allocating credit), the proof of the pudding is in the tasting. At the moment it tastes quite good, but balancing long-term objectives with short-term goals is no easy task, and during the early part of Jayasuriya’s reign as head coach it’s the short-term that has taken immediate priority.

Take the recently concluded series against New Zealand. Several red-ball specialists were sent to South Africa early to prepare for Sri Lanka’s crucial WTC-impacting Test series later this month, but four key players – Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Mendis, Kamindu Mendis and Asitha Fernando – were asked to remain and play against a fairly green New Zealand side.

Would those four have been better served preparing for the Tests Sri Lanka need to win to keep their WTC final hopes alive? Most certainly. But for Jayasuriya, the need to keep a winning momentum was just as important – and for those four players, a shorter adaptation period is now a challenge they must meet head-on.

“We were discussing all these options, but we wanted to do well, even in Sri Lanka with the ODIs and T20s, because we can’t take things for granted even with this New Zealand team. Yes, some of their players didn’t come but they still have a good team. They played good cricket here,” said Jayasuriya, alongside chief selector Upul Tharanga, on Thursday [21]. “So that is why we give some of them to rest on the last game – to come back to Colombo, rest and then go to South Africa. Some of the players may have to adjust themselves as quickly as possible to the situation. So Kamindu, Pathum, Kusal Mendis, those three players need to adjust themselves according to the situations, red-ball and white-ball.”

As for Asitha – Sri Lanka’s lead red-ball seamer – Jayasuriya felt the rest afforded by not playing in the T20s and the final ODI was enough.

“We gave him a rest in the T20 games, where he had two games off,” Jayasuriya said. “And after that we got him to play two ODIs and we gave him the third ODI off. So we’re managing him, because he’s the one who’s bowling really well at the moment. We have to look after him.

“Of course, we considered those areas resting players with the selectors, but we came to the decision to play everyone in the first two games, and then to see how it goes.”

These answers may not satisfy those who might view a white-ball series against a depleted New Zealand side as significantly less important than the Tests in South Africa – particularly with Sri Lanka’s next major ODI tournament set to be in 2027 for the World Cup – however, it’s increasingly evident that Jayasuriya’s management style – at least at this juncture – is focused on tackling the challenge at hand as opposed to looking at the big picture.

“What I say is, when you get to the ground, you can win the match or lose it, but you have to show the right attitude and body language. That needs to be 100% – if you do that you’ll never go wrong. I always insist on the basics like that.

“If you go for a T20 it’s about three hours of cricket, an ODI is around six hours. For that period of time, flick the switch, and give me 100%, and on either side of that forget about it. Like that, I look to give small, small goals. You don’t need to give these boys big targets, they have played cricket from a young age, they know what to do. They just need the confidence, structure, discipline, put it all together and go well.”

Even when it comes to pitch preparation, it’s clear that the immediacy of results has been prioritised. After the 2023 World Cup debacle, there seemed to be a shift in thinking within Sri Lankan cricket, with better batting tracks set to be curated to provide more of a challenge for bowlers, and offer batters the license to play their strokes.

However, upon Jayasuriya taking over, there has been a u-turn in this mandate, with pitches recently favouring heavily spin bowling. Chief selector Tharanga, however, made it clear that this was a concerted ploy but one that would only be restricted to international games.

“A lot of the time the plan is tailored to the opponent we’re facing. That said, the last few series we have definitely prepared wickets favouring spinners,” said Tharanga. “The idea was to get that winning feeling into the side. That’s the most important thing, that’s where the players gain confidence. Once that is done, then we can start looking at which pitches are needed to best suit our combination of players.”

“In terms of domestic cricket, such as club cricket, LPL and T10, those matches must be played on good wickets. How to build long innings, or bowl in certain situations, how to bowl on good wickets, how to bowl at the death – the players coming through the system must learn these things, not in international cricket, but when playing domestic cricket. It’s difficult to learn those skills on the job when you’re playing international cricket. Domestic cricket must 100% be played on good wickets.”

But while the needs of the short and longer-term don’t always make for happy bedfellows, as things stand, for a cricketing nation bereft of any sort of confidence over the past decade, Jayasuriya’s methods are working, and that all too crucial buy-in, not just from the players, but from fans and a notoriously fickle local media, is also seemingly falling into place.

[Cricinfo]

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Sun directly overhead Madampe, Thorayaya, Thotagamuwa, Rattota and Kalavanchikudy about 12.09 noon today (03)

Published

2 hours ago

2026/09/3

Priyan

The sun is going to be directly over the latitudes of Sri Lanka from 28th of August to 07th of September due to its apparent southward relative motion.

The nearest places of Sri Lanka over which the sun is overhead today (03) are Madampe, Thorayaya, Thotagamuwa, Rattota and
Kalavanchikudy about 12.09 noon.

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Nilakshika fifty, Athapaththu seven-for rescue Sri Lanka against Indonesia

Published

8 hours ago

2026/09/3

Priyan

Chamari Athapaththu (3.3-0-5-7) produced the fifth-best figures in women's T20Is [ACC]

A Chamari Athapaththu seven-wicket haul and Nilakshika Silva’s 50 off 35 saw defending champions Sri Lanka withstand a valiant Indonesian side to register a resounding 75-run victory in their Asia Cup match in Dubai.

Athapaththu was undoubtedly the pick of the bowlers, as she started and finished Indonesia’s slide with career best figures of 7 for 05, inclusive of a hat-trick – nearly two in fact. Chasing a target of 125, the opening pair of Maria Corazon and Rahmawati Pangestuti struck 16 runs in the first two overs, but once spin came into play scoring slowed down to a trickle and Indonesia were eventually bowled out for 49 in the 19th over.

Sri Lanka, too, had found it tough to combat Indonesia’s mix of spin and slow-medium seamers as they stumbled to 62 for 6 in the 13th over, but their innings received a timely boost as Nilakshika countered with a trademark back-against-the-wall effort to drag her side to a total that seemed about par on a pretty sluggish surface. In the end it proved to be plenty.

Sri Lanka struggle early on

Having been put in to bat on a fresh surface, Sri Lanka were perhaps guilty of a little complacency against their less-fancied opponents. Time and again the top order sought to find the boundary, and time and again they failed to find their timing.

On a wicket where the ball was hardly coming on, the Sri Lankan batters’ tunnel vision focused squarely on boundary hitting and eschewed strike rotation; there were 19 dot balls in a powerplay that had fetched 31 runs for the loss of two wickets.

By the halfway point of the innings, the dot count had risen to 28. The scorecard, meanwhile, read 47 for 5. Indonesia, to their credit, did well to bowl to their fields and frustrate the Lankan batters.

Sanjana Kavindi got to double-digits with a pair of nicely struck boundaries, but she was the only one of Sri Lanka’s top five to do so – and she was eventually done in on 15 missing an attempted cut on a straight one.

Nilakshika brings the Silva-lining

With recognised batting fast running out, Sri Lanka needed someone to take control of the innings, and as she has done so often over recent years it was Nilakshika that stood up to be counted.

She first strung together 17 off 18 with Kaushini Nuthyangana, but when Nuthyangana fell Nilakshika produced a masterclass in batting with the tail. She cajoled Kawya Kavindi to keep rotating the strike, and when the opportunity arose she was unerring in finding the boundaries – including Sri Lanka’s first and only six of the innings in the penultimate over.

Their seventh-wicket partnership eventually ended on 50 off 36, reached simultaneously alongside side Nilakshika’s fifty – her third in T20Is – but by then she had already ushered her side to safety.

Athapaththu steals the show

In Chethana Vimukthi, Sri Lanka might have their first ever genuine fast bowler but on a wicket where the ball was not quite coming on, pace never seemed like the answer. For the first two overs of the chase, Indonesia’s openers did well to find boundaries against Vimukthi and and fellow seamer Kawya, but then Sri Lanka introduced their spinners.

Athapaththu promptly castled Pangestuti before removing Corazon and Rada Rani off consecutive deliveries in her next over. Here she missed her hat-trick by a whisker, a yorker narrowly missing Desi Wulandari’s off stump.

She brought herself back into the attack in the 14th and removed Nanda Sakarini, and she capped things off by achieving her hat-trick at the second time of asking, taking three wickets off what proved to be the final three deliveries of the innings.

Scores:
Sri Lanka Women 124 for 7 in 20 overs (Sanjana Kavindi 15, Nilakshika Silva 50, Kawya Kavindi 15*; Ni Ariani 1-23, Sang Maypriani 2-15, Ni Luh Dewi 3-32, Sofia Velic 1-21) beat Indonesia Women 49 all out in 18.3 overs (Rahmawati Pangestudi 10, Ni Made Putri Suwandevi 12; Kavya Kavindi 1-14, Sugandika Kumari 1-03, Chamari Athapaththu 7-05, Kavisha Dilhari 1-02) by 75 runs

[Cricinfo]

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MoU signed for technology to prevent wild elephant-train collisions

Published

18 hours ago

2026/09/2

Priyan

The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) relating to the project to provide technological solutions to prevent wild elephants from being hit by trains was signed yesterday (01) afternoon at the President’s Media Centre, under the patronage of Secretary to the President Dr Nandika Sanath Kumanayake.

Coordinated through the “Clean Sri Lanka” programme, the project is being implemented as a public-private partnership, with the Railway Department, the Department of Wildlife Conservation and the Forest Conservation Department working together, with full financial support from People’s Bank.

The system consists of three-beam detection, passive infrared (PIR) sensors, automatic temperature sensors and a tamper alarm system to detect animals weighing more than 20 kilogrammes and unauthorised interference. Signal lights (red/yellow/green) installed on either side of the railway tracks, together with a special screen installed inside the locomotive cab, will alert the driver in advance to the exact location of an elephant.

A demonstration test of the system was successfully conducted at the Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage premises in the presence of the relevant officials, following which a report on the system was prepared.

The system will be implemented as a pilot project from next month at 13 locations where wild elephant accidents are frequent. A newly developed website is also scheduled to be launched to enable the progress of the project to be viewed live.

Additional General Manager of Railways P.D.S.B. Chandrasena, Director General of Wildlife Conservation M.S.L.R.P. Marasinghe, Conservator General of Forests S.C. Palamakuumbura and Chairman of People’s Bank Chandana Guniyangoda signed the relevant MoU. Officials from the Clean Sri Lanka Secretariat, including Presidential Additional Secretary (Clean Sri Lanka) Engineer S.P.C. Sugeeshwara, as well as senior officials from the Railway Department, Department of Wildlife Conservation, Forest Conservation Department and People’s Bank, were also present.

[President’s Media Division]